For a while now there have been whispers of the Fab-Four finally going digital and making their back catalog available for download, but for the most part it seemed to be just wide-eyed speculation. However, that appeared to change a few days ago when the UK press (Daily Record, Telegraph, Daily Mail, etc.) began reporting that a deal had been struck with Apple Inc. (computer company not Beatles publishing, that’s Apple Corps.) to make the songs available for download on iTunes.

It looked as if I’d finally get replace those tattered old records with substandard, compressed mp3s! Hooray! Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Why should I be excited to replace organic audio with a cheap codec-ridden blather that’s one-tenth the file size? To be honest, I’m not. Sure it’d be great to line the pockets of Ringo and Paul with a little more cash; after all Paul is about to get hammered by an ugly divorce settlement. But personally I’d rather scour a record store (even if they’re going the way of the buffalo) looking to find that classic album on vinyl. Now you might be thinking, they’ve yet to create a Walkman that plays vinyl, and they probably never will. Truly, you would be mistaken, and you can find one right here that will only run you $250. Even if that groovy gadget isn’t your style it remains true that most of The Beatles’ catalog is already available on CD, which can be purchased and made portable. In the end it becomes a compromise of quality for price.

All techno-babble and rhetoric aside, the issue is still unsettled. The initial reports of an agreement have since been discounted and only time will tell when those famous boys from Liverpool will finally go binary.

We’re coming up on the 27th anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination (December 8th, 1980)…
(aside: Isn’t it a bit weird to have an anniversary for an assassination? I mean, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, not the day he was murdered. Same with Lincoln for Presidents Day. Emo.)

To commemorate this dark day in music history, our buddies at The Orchard are releasing the audio from John Lennon’s last official interview, which took place 12 hours before crazed fan Mark David Chapmanpulled a gun and murdered the former Beatle.

You can listen to the first part of the interview here: Testimony

During the conversation, Lennon and wife Yoko Ono talk with Bob Miles about what would be Lennon’s last album, Double Fantasy, their family, how Lennon met McCartney, and much more I’m sure.

If you would like to purchase the whole interview on mp3 you can do so here. Or here.

War is Over (if you want it).

Today, October 9th, is John Lennon’s birthday. The former Beatle turned 67 years old today, and despite having not released an album of new material in over 27 years, remains a relevant rock icon today.
(I hold the unpopular position that John Lennon faked his murder in 1980 and lives on a private, uncharted island with Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Andy Kaufman and my schnauzer, Bentley. They are all very happy there and my mom says I can visit them some day.)

This morning I caught Terry Gross‘ interview with Steven Colbert on NPR. They were discussing his new book entitled I Am America (And So Can You!), which might be the most awesomely titled piece of literature since War and Peace. The reason I bring this up is because I’m reminded of one of Colbert’s bits he had during his tenure on The Daily Show with John Stewart. This was a long time ago so I’ll have to paraphrase, but it went something along the lines of this:

“And now for some news that will be depressing for bong-clutching college graduates: By the time they were 30, the Beatles had already broken up.”

(I totally stole that last picture from The Onion.)